Meeting House and Hearse House

Description: Built in 1800, this steepleless structure, originally unheated, was used for both town and church meetings. This and a similar building in Rockingham, Vt., are the only two survivors of some 70 meeting houses with twin end "porches" (stairwells) built in New England in the 1700's. The building retains box pews (once privately owned) and a high pulpit. "Singing seats" in the gallery reflect the introduction of choral music in the late 1700s. The nearby Hearse House (1849) marks a transistion in local funerals from a hand-carried bier to a horse-drawn vehicle.